katterjohn



March 24, 1964 c. M. KATTERJOHN 3,126,101

DISPLAY APPARATUS Filed Feb. 3. 1961 INVENTOR.

March 1, c. M. KATTERJOHN DISPLAY APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb.3. 1961 i .1 w a a J N r JP g I 9 9 z z s m a 1 f a 2 y. 2 3 7 J W mw/United States Patent 3,126,101 DISPLAY APPARATUS Charles M. Katterjohn,R0. Box 463, Henderson, Ky. Filed Feb. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 86,909 Claims.(Cl. 211-176) This invention relates to display apparatus and, inparticular, to such apparatus including suspension racks from whichtrays are hung.

One object of this invention is to provide a display apparatus and atray suspension rack therefor consisting of a frame having corner postswhere are provided at intervals along their heights with means forsuspending article-holding trays by the pivoted swinging bails or hookswith which such trays are equipped.

Another object is to provide a display apparatus and tray suspensionrack therefor of the foregoing character wherein the corner posts areequipped with multiple vertically-spaced notches which receive thepivoted swinging bails of the trays, either placing the trays inhorizontal positions or in tilted positions for facilitating display andcustomer selection of the goods, such as loaves of bread, on the trays.

Another object is to provide a display apparatus and tray suspensionrack therefor of the foregoing character wherein the corner posts arecomposite, in that they include main posts of Wood or other suitablematerial slotted or grooved to receive notched bars of metal or the likecontaining the previously-mentioned tray sus pension notches, therebyreducing the cost and weight of the tray as well as facilitatingmanufacture, assembly and disassembly thereof.

Another object is to provide a display apparatus and tray suspensionrack therefor of the foregoing character wherein a pair of corner postsis interconnected by upper and lower horizontal tie members to form arack side unit, two such units being detachably interconnected byhorizontal cross members perpendicular to the tie members so as tofacilitate assembly and disassembly of the rack and to enable its beingpacked,stored or transported in the minimum space.

Another object is to provide a display apparatus and tray suspensionrack therefor of the foregoing character which has attachable anddetachable side shelves removably secured to the corner posts of eachrack side unit, for' facilitating display and customer selection ofother articles such as baked goods of smaller size than bread loaves.

Another object is to provide a display apparatus and tray suspensionrack therefor of the foregoing character wherein supporting clips areprovided for engagement with the front and rear top members of the rackand in turn support an inclined auxiliary article-supporting devicewhich adds to the display capacity of the rack by enabling articles tobe placed in inclined positions on the top of the rack.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be come apparentduring the course of the following descrip tion of the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a mainly-front perspective view of a display apparatusincluding a tray suspension rack, according to one form of theinvention, with a tray shown suspended therefrom in a forwardly-inclinedposition;

FIGURE 2 is a mainly-side perspective view of the display apparatusincluding the tray suspension rack shown in FIGURE 1, but with a pair oftrays shown suspended therefrom in oppositely-inclined positions;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation of the display apparatus and traysuspension rack shown in FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section thereof taken along the line 4-4 inFIGURE 3;

ice

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal section thereof taken along the line 55 inFIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the upper end ofone of the notched tray suspension bars inserted in the corner posts ofthe tray suspension rack of FIGURES l to 4 inclusive;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged cross-section through the upper front crossmember of the tray suspension rack of FIGURES 1 and 2, showing in sideelevation one of the auxiliary support holding clips and the inclinedfront panel of the auxiliary article support; and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary side elevation of one of the side shelvesshowing its manner of attachment to the corner post of one of the sideunits.

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIGURES 1 to 5 inclusive show adisplay apparatus, generally designated 9, according to one form of theinvention as including a tray suspension rack, generally designated 10,adapted to serve for the suspension of trays, generally designated 12,such as bread trays used'by baking companies for delivering bread totheir dealers. Such trays may be of any suitable type, such as the typedescribed and claimed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 859,437filed December 14, 1959, for Nestable Stacking Tray. The tray 12 isshown diagrammatically in FIGURE 1 and a pair of such trays 12 in FIGURE2.

Each tray 12 consists of an elongated article holder 14 of panel formmade from resilient sheet material, such as fiber board, with a bottompanel 16 and integral end panels 18 which normally spring outward awayfrom one another into inclined positions relatively to the bottom panel16 when the elongated approximately U-shaped side bails 20 pivoted tothe bottom panel 16 are swung outward away from the end panels 18, asshown in FIG- URE 1. For compact stacking when loaded with loaves ofbread or other articles in trucks, the trays 12 are compacted by movingthe end panels 18 toward one another into vertical positions parallel toone another and perpendicular to the bottom panel 16, at the same timemoving the bails 20 toward one another so that they swing over the endsof the'end panels 18 and hold them in their closed positions. The tray12 is then loaded with the articles to be transported, such as loaves ofbread, and successive trays 12 can be stacked upon one another while soloaded. The trays 12, when emptied of their contents, may be stacked innested compact positions for return to the bakery by pulling outward onthe bails 20 so as to release the opposite ends of the panels 18 which,by their resilience, thereupon swing away from the bottom panel 16 intotheir inclined positions shown in FIG- URE 1. A multiplicity of suchtrays 12 may then be nested with and stacked upon one another forcompact storage and transportation. For display of the goods, such asloaves of bread, the trays 12, with their loaves or other articles to bedisplayed, are also moved into the nesting position described above,with the bails 20 separated from engagement with the end panels 18, andthe bails 20 hung on the rack 10 in the manner described below inconnection with the operation of the invention.

The tray suspension rack 10 consists generally of a pair of side'units22disposed parallel to one another and each consisting of a pair of frontand rear composite corner posts, generally designated 24 and 25, theupper and lower ends of which are interconnected by side cross members26 and front and rear cross members 27 and 29, the side cross membersbeing secured thereto in any suitable way, as bymortise and tenon joints(not shown). The corner posts 24 and 25 are drilled near their upper andlower ends in line with the front and rear cross members 27 and 29 forthe passage of threaded studs 31, the inner ends of which are seated inthe cross members 27 and 29 and the forward end portions of which extendthrough the corner posts 24 and 25 and carry wing nuts 33. The compositecorner posts 24 and 25 in turn consist of elongated wooden posts 28(FIGURES 3 and 4) which are provided with longitudinal grooves 39extending the major part of their lengths and having depths less thanthe thicknesses of the posts 28.

Secured snugly in the longitudianl grooves 30 of the posts 28 areelongated thin bars or plates 32, preferably of metal such as steel,each having notches 34 disposed at intervals along its length. Eachnotch 34 (FIGURE 6) is of inverted L-shaped form with a mouth 36 at theouter end of the horizontal top portion 38 thereof and a verticalportion 40 extending downwardly therefrom and having a recess 42 in thelower end thereof adapted to receive the bail 20 of a tray 12, as shownin FIGURES 1 and 2.

The notches 34 of each set in the four corner posts 24 and 25 areconveniently arranged on the same horizontal level, but their spacingsare so arranged that the trays 12 can be inclined at suitable angles oftilt when the forward portions of the bails 20 are hooked into thenotches 34 in the front posts 24 located on a level below the notches34- in the rear posts 25. If, however, the user desires to place thetrays 12 with the bottoms 16 thereof horizontal, he merely hooks thehorizontal portions of the bails 29 into notches 34 on the samehorizontal level in the front and rear corner posts 24 and 25.

The display capacity of the display apparatus 9 may be supplemented bymeans of an auxiliary display structure, generally designated 40,consisting of front and rear panels 42 and 44 joined to one another attheir upper edges along a common line of junction 46 and divergingdownwardly away from one another with their forward and rearward edges48 (FIGURE 7) resting in recesses 50 between the inverted channelportions 52 and upwardly-inclined inwardly projecting supportingportions 54 of supporting clips, generally designated 56, the channels58 of which rest upon the upper edges of the front and rear crossmembers 27 and 29.

Loaves of bread or other articles may be placed upon the inclined frontpanel 4-2 and also, if desired, on the rear panel 44 and therebyincrease the display capacity of the apparatus.

The display or carrying capacity of the display apparatus 9 may also beincreased by the use of attachable and detachable shelves 60, one ofwhich is shown in side elevation in FIGURE 8, and in perspective inFIGURE 1. Each shelf 69 consists of a supporting bar 62 which on itsupper corner edges is rabbeted at 64 to receive the rearward edge 66 ofa shelf plate 68, the two being secured to one another in any suitableway such as by an adhesive or fasteners (not shown). The supporting bar62 below the rabbet 64 is drilled horizontally as at 7i? to receive aclamping bolt 72, the forward end portions of which passes through abore 74 in a horizontal clamping bar 76, the bore 74 being aligned withthe bore 70. The clamping bar 76 preferably has an upper edge portion 78disposed on the same level as the bottom of the rabbet 64 so as topermit the lower surface of the shelf plate 68 to rest thereon in ahorizontal position. A nut 80 and washer 82 are mounted upon thethreaded portion of the bolt 72 for effecting clamping engagement of thebars 62 and '76 with opposite sides of the front and rear corner posts24 and 25.

In the use of the display apparatus 9 of the invention, the display rackit] is assembled by placing the side units 22 laterally apart from oneanother with a distance sligthly greater than the lengths of the frontand rear cross members 27 and 29, so that their studs 31 may be passedthrough the drilled upper and lower ends of the corner posts 24 and 25,whereupon the wing nuts 31 are applied to the projecting ends of thestuds 31 and tightened. This procedure causes the display frame 22 to beassembled into the ready condition shown in FIGURES 1 l and 2 from aknocked down or demounted condition for compactness of packing,transportation or storage.

The user then suspends the trays 12 from the rack 10, preferably withthe loaves of bread or other articles resting upon the tray bottoms 16in inclined display positions, by swinging the inverted U-shaped bails20 so as to hook them into notches 34 on different levels in the frontand rear corner posts 24 and 25, as shown in FIGURE 1. For display onboth front and rear sides of the frame 10, such as when the frame 10 isfree-standing in a passageway, the trays 12 may be placed in alternatingoppositelyinclined sequence as shown in FIGURE 2, by selecting frontnotches 34 which are higher than rear notches 34 for the tray 12immediately below the tray 12 previously placed in position.

When the loaves of bread or other articles have been sold, the operatorremoves the empty trays 12 from the rack 10 by lifting the bails 20upward and at the same time swinging them toward one another outwardthrough the entrance openings 36 of the notches 34. The empty trays 12may then be stacked in a pile and returned to the bakery or otherestablishment for another load of bread loaves or other articles. Theattachment of the shelf 60 has been sufficiently described in connectionwith its construction and a suitable number of such shelves may bearranged one above the other to project outwardly from the side units22, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 8.

The setting up and loading of the auxiliary article display structure 40has also been described above in connection with its construction and,accordingly, no further description is needed. It will be evident thatthe auxiliary display structure 40 may be detached from the displayframe It) by lifting upward upon it so as to remove the lower edges 48of the front and rear panels 42 and 44 from engagement With the recesses40 of the clips 56.

What I claim is:

l. A display apparatus comprising an open-centered frame structureincluding two pairs of upright corner members disposed inlaterally-spaced relationship at the corners of a central space ofapproximately rectangular cross section and including vertically-spacedapproximately horizontal upper and lower cross members interconnectingthe upper and lower portions respectively of said upright members, saidcorner members along their inner sides having a plurality ofvertically-spaced notches therein with entrance openings facing inwardlyinto said space, and a plurality of approximately rectangular traysdisposed in said space, each tray having upstanding articleretainingelements secured thereto at opposite ends there of, each tray havingsuspension elements pivotally connected thereto on opposite sidesthereof and extending upwardly therefrom and swingable outwardrelatively thereto into suspended engagement with said notches.

2. A display apparatus, according to claim 1, wherein said suspensionelements comprise approximately inverted U-shaped bails having elongatedlongitudinal portions engaging said notches and having transverseportions connected to the opposite ends of said longitudinal portionsand extending downwardly therefrom into pivotal connection with saidtrays.

3. A display apparatus comprising a frame structure including aplurality of upright corner members spaced laterally apart from oneanother and vertically-spaced approximately horizontal upper and lowercross members interconnecting the upper and lower portions respectivelyof said upright member; a plurality of clips having recessed portionsresting upon said cross members in laterally-spaced relationship andhaving vertical suspension portions extending downwardly from saidrecessed portion and having supporting portions projecting inwardly fromsaid suspension portions toward the center of said frame structure, anda display structure including a pair of plates having upper edgesconnected to one another, said plates diverging from one anotherdownwardly from their place of connection with their lower edges restingupon said supporting portions of said clips, said suspension portionsbeing a multiplicity of times longer than the thickness of said plateswhereby the lower edges of the top surfaces of said plates are disposeda substantial distance below the top edges of said upper cross membersso that said upper cross members provide abutments extending upwardlyfrom said lower edges of said plates so as to prevent displayed articlesfrom sliding downwardly off said plates.

4. A tray suspension rack comprising an open-centered frame structureincluding two pairs of upright composite corner members disposed inlaterally-spaced relationship at the corners of a central space ofapproximately rectangular cross-section and including vertically-spacedapproximately horizontal upper and lower cross members interconnectingthe upper and lower portions respectively of said upright members, saidcomposite corner members along their inner sides having a plurality ofverticallyspaced notches therein with entrance openings facing inwardlyinto said space, said corner members including elongated posts havingelongated grooves therein extending therealong on the inner sidesthereof and elongated bars secured in said grooves, said notches beingdisposed in said bars.

5. A tray suspension rack, according to claim 4, wherein said notchesare of approximately inverted L-shaped form including elongatedsubstantially vertical slots having substantially shorter horizontalentrance openings near the upper ends thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A DISPLAY APPARATUS COMPRISING AN OPEN-CENTERED FRAME STRUCTUREINCLUDING TWO PAIRS OF UPRIGHT CORNER MEMBERS DISPOSED INLATERALLY-SPACED RELATIONSHIP AT THE CORNERS OF A CENTRAL SPACE OFAPPROXIMATELY RECTANGULAR CROSS SECTION AND INCLUDING VERTICALLY-SPACEDAPPROXIMATELY HORIZONTAL UPPER AND LOWER CROSS MEMBERS INTERCONNECTINGTHE UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS RESPECTIVELY OF SAID UPRIGHT MEMBERS, SAIDCORNER MEMBERS ALONG THEIR INNER SIDES HAVING A PLURALITY OFVERTICALLY-SPACED NOTCHES THEREIN WITH ENTRANCE OPENINGS FACING INWARDLYINTO SAID SPACE, AND A PLURALITY OF APPROXIMATELY RECTANGULAR TRAYSDISPOSED IN SAID SPACE, EACH TRAY HAVING UPSTANDING ARTICLERETAININGELEMENTS SECURED THERETO AT OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF, EACH TRAY HAVINGSUSPENSION ELEMENTS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED THERETO ON OPPOSITE SIDESTHEREOF AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THEREFORM AND SWINGABLE OUTWARDRELATIVELY THERETO INTO SUSPENDED ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID NOTCHES.